A conventional toothbrush generally has a head and a handle. The handle is formed to be straight or curvilinear and cannot be transformed.
It is difficult for such a brush to contact the backside of teeth or between teeth at proper angles. Furthermore, the toothbrush cannot sufficiently match up to various teeth orientations of users.
In order to solve these problems, handles capable of adjusting the angle of a toothbrush head have been developed, publicly known and disclosed in the following publications.
First Conventional Technique Described in JP-A-3(1991)-500494
This publication discloses a handle for a toothbrush where a brush head is rotatably supported in an end of the handle, two parallel handle members are provided in the other end of the handle and the two handle members are coupled by a flexible intermediate layer or web. By virtue of the handle for the toothbrush, the angle of the brush head can be adjusted by relative movement of the two handle members in the longitudinal direction.
Second Conventional Technique Described in JP-U-57(1982)-36140
This publication discloses a toothbrush having a handle part and a brush part that are independently manufactured and coupled with each other. The handle part is formed by overlapping two members each other, so that the vicinity of the connected portion on the handle part can be bent. It is described that the two members constituting the handle part can be relatively slided in the longitudinal direction to allow the angle adjustment of the brush part.
Third Conventional Technique Described in JP-A-4(1992)-269905
This publication discloses a toothbrush of a closed-loop configuration that can be transformed for adjustment of its curvature by finger compression. This toothbrush has a closed loop configuration including the handle and the head. The curvature of the brush head can be adjusted by compressing the handle.
Fourth Conventional Technique Described in JP-A-6(1994)-504937
This publication discloses a toothbrush using an elastic buckling arc for notifying the user of excessive brushing pressure. The neck portion near the brush head of this toothbrush is of a two-beam structure having a front (face-side) beam part and a rear beam part. A buckling hinge is disposed in the rear beam part such that excessive brushing pressure makes the buckling hinge buckle elastically and move toward the front beam part, thereby notifying the user that the brushing pressure is excessive.
Fifth Conventional Technique Described in JP-A-8(1996)-332116
This publication discloses a toothbrush of which a part between the head and handle can be elastically bent due to the force applied by the user such that brushing pressure on teeth and gums can be properly adjusted. A neck portion between the head and the handle of this toothbrush is constructed of two beams with an aperture therebetween so that the neck portion can be bent.
However, in the above-mentioned first and second conventional techniques, the relative movement of the two handle members in the longitudinal direction thereof is required to adjust the angle of the brush head. Thus, the user of such a toothbrush must apply a force for adjusting the angle of the brush head in the longitudinal direction of handle members, while cleaning his teeth. Alternatively, the user must clean his teeth after the angle of the brush head has been adjusted. In both the cases, whenever he adjusts the angle of the brush head, he must move his thumb so that a grasped part is not stable. Consequently, the conventional technique has a problem that it is difficult for the user to adjust the force for tooth brushing.
Furthermore, there is an additional problem in the first and second conventional techniques that the construction is complex and costly. For these reasons, they have not been practically utilized.
Next, in the above-mentioned third conventional technique, when the closed-loop like handle is compressed, the brush surface on the head at the distal end of the handle is also bent into a convex shape. Therefore, the toothbrush has a problem that it is difficult to hold the entire brush on the head uniformly in contact with teeth and gums with the equal pressure. Furthermore, since the handle may pinch a finger in the closed loop during the compressing operation, it is not easy for the user to use the toothbrush. In addition, there is another problem that the end of the handle may fatigue and be broken in a short time due to repetitive compression of the handle.
Next, in the above-mentioned fourth conventional technique, the toothbrush has a problem that the head angle can be changed only when the brushing pressure is excessive. The head angle cannot be changed optionally according to the part to be cleaned, e.g., front teeth or back teeth. The toothbrush with the buckling hinge has another problem in strength that the toothbrush is likely to be broken at the buckling part.
Next, in the above-mentioned fifth conventional technique, the neck portion can be bent by the force applied to the toothbrush. However, even when the neck portion is bent, the head angle to teeth remains unchanged. Thus, the toothbrush has a problem that the head angle cannot be properly and optionally adjusted for various teeth orientations or various parts to be cleaned.
The invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member convenient for use wherein the angle of the tooth cleaning member can be easily adjusted to a proper and desired angle for cleaning teeth only by controlling a force for grasping the grip part.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member wherein the angle of the cleaning member can be adjusted in a wide range.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member of which the structure is simple and, therefore, easy to be manufactured at low cost in high production efficiency.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member capable of being easily washed or cleansed.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member capable of selectively being used either as a toothbrush or as an interdental brush.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member wherein the shape of the brush on the head can be easily changed so that all teeth can be smoothly cleaned within a mouth.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member having an aperture in the grip part while the user's finger can be prevented from being pinched in the aperture, the interior surface of the aperture can be easily cleaned, and the neck portion can be easily transformed to a desired angle for cleaning teeth.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member wherein a grip part with an aperture has sufficient strength to prevent its breakage.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member wherein the interior surface of the aperture can be easily cleaned with a bar-like cleaning tool such as a swab, and the handle is easily manufactured by molding from a resin material in a die, allowing the long durability of the die.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member capable of being easily manipulated when pressing a grip part or cleaning teeth.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a handle for a tooth cleaning member wherein elastic transformation of a grip part can be optionally stopped so that the toothbrush can be used as a general integral toothbrush at the stopped position.